Never Say Xever
"Never Say Xever" ''is the 8th episode of Season 1 in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. It premiered on November 10th, 2012 . ''"It all begins with a test of strength" Official Description Following a fight with the Purple Dragons at a noodle shop, Leo fears his act of mercy has come back to haunt him when Xever, Chris Bradford, the Purple Dragons, and the Foot Clan hold the blind owner of the local noodle shop; Mr. Murakami, hostage. Plot The episode opens in the Shredder's headquarters. Xever (Fishface) and Bradford (Dogpound) have explained to their master that Hamato Yoshi/Master Splinter's disciples are actually turtles that have been highly trained in Martial Arts. However, Shredder is extremely disappointed in Bradford and brings a blade up to his throat, telling him that he expected so much more from him. Bradford promises that he won't be incompetent next time, so Shredder spares him. He then decides to let Xever be in charge on their second mission, much to Bradford's dismay. Xever reveals that he has ordered several street gangs to keep an eye out for the Turtles at all times and, once he finds the creatures, he will butcher them and drop them at Shredder's feet. Meanwhile, April O' Neil has decided to lead the Turtles out of the sewers and she is taking them to her one of her favorite noodle shops in Chinatown. The Turtles keep themselves concealed on the rooftops, which makes April think that they are far behind her and asks them to speed it up a little. After April realizes that the Turtles are now side by side with her, Donnie asks if she thinks that all turtles are slow. Mikey starts to feel as if April's request was actually a hurtful stereotype. Leo then tells April that they are always meant to keep a low profile; People treat them better when they don't know they exist. The Turtles then become nervous about entering the shop, but April reassures them that the owner, Mr. Murakami, is blind and won't have any idea that they are mutants. They soon arrive at the restaurant, only to find it being torn up by a local street gang called the Purple Dragons, who think that they own some of the streets. The Turtles are forced to confront the destructive gang, despite the fact that April also wanted the Turtles to not hit any people that night. The gang then reveal that they have been warned of their existence. The Turtles try to say that they don't want any trouble, but the gang then charges at the Turtles, which results in a fight and April is forced to lead Murukami out of the resturant until the fight comes to an end. Leonardo disarms the leader of the gang and is about to punch his lights out, but the crook cowers and Leonardo quickly relents, but not before telling the criminals to leave immediately. Raphael becomes angry at Leo for what he views as showing weakness to a brutal enemy. Leo retorts that the man was unarmed and had enough, so he wasn't an actual threat. Murakami is very grateful for being assisted and offers to make them their favorite dish, free of charge. The Turtles all exclaim that they enjoy Pizza, so the blind chef creates something known as "Pizza Gyoza", a pizza version of a traditional Japanese dumpling recipe. The turtles sample the food and they instantly grow addicted to it, even dismissing April's request for them to try some soup. Leo asks Murakami if the Purple Dragons come around alot and Murukami replies that they often extort protection money from many people in the neighborhood, but Murakami refuses to pay. Back at the lair, Leo throws punches at a practice dummy, while Raph comes up behind Leo and tells Leo to stop striking the dummy, as he's had enough. Leo realizes that Raph is still upset with him for letting a cruel man escape into the city where he could do more harm. Splinter then enters the living room and explains that mercy is actually a sign of true strength and compassion - not being 'soft'. Splinter then hits Raph on the shoulder with his cane and Raph is about to consider asking for mercy, which emphasizes Splinter's point. The Turtles then decide that they should track down the Dragons and make sure that they don't harm Murukami ever again. Donnie is prompted to briefly wonder how they're suppoust to track some one down when they have no clue who to communicate with. They ultimately rely on April to ask locals in Chinatown about where the gang's hideout is. April approaches another resturant owner and tells him that she is asking about the presence of the Purple Dragons, pretending to be an undercover cop. At first, the man is leery and demands to see a badge, but April says that this would blow her cover, so the man shows her where the gang often hangs out: A Tattoo Parlor. Raph immediately notices that the leader is exiting, so they follow him to the gang's main headquarters. Unfortunately, they happen to interrupt a meeting between the Dragons and The Foot Clan. The three gang members, Xever, and Bradford all attack the Turtles at once. Leo faces the gang leader again and lets him off easy once more. The battle seems to be going fine for the Turtles, but it soon takes a turn for the worse when numerous Foot ninja arrive to even the odds. Leo orders his brothers to retreat, much to Raph's dismay. Xever yells for the Turtles to come back and refers to them as cowards. Back at the lair, Raph is furious, believing that the only way they can defeat their foes is to be even more ruthless than they are. Splinter then comes in and assures his son that Xever will always cross lines that Raph wouldn't. Even if this does make him dangerous, it dosen't mean that he is 'strong'. Meanwhile, Xever tortures Fong (the leader of the Purple Dragons) for his failure to notice that he was leading the Turtles to a place where they could cause trouble. Bradford walks into the room and tells Xever that the Purple Dragons are of no use to them. Xever disagrees, however, and beats information out of Fong as to where they first saw the Turtles. Xever learns that the Turtles were trying to protect Murukami. Bradford asks Xever how he will make sure that the Turtles won't get a chance to escape like last time. Xever replies that the task ahead is easy; He will give the Turtles a reason to stay. Soon, The Turtles see that April is pacing outside of the noodle shop and April leads them inside, where she shows them a note pinned to the wall with one of Xever's butterfly knives, daring them to come and get Murakami back. Leo sides with Raph, deciding that Xever has crossed the line by taking Murakami hostage and that the Turtles will have to cross the line as well by taking tha captive of their own; Bradford. They jump Bradford when the latter is exiting one of his Dojos, chain him into a trash can, and bring him to the meet up where Xever and the Purple Dragons are waiting. Murakami has been hung on a rope over the edge of the building. Xever threatens to cut the rope. The Turtles, on the other hand, threaten to toss Bradford off of the roof, but Xever could care less about this and calls their bluff. Not even Raph is willing to toss the defenseless Bradford, so Xever commands a garrison of Foot ninja to ambush the Turtles. During the large fight that follows, Bradford is able to free himself with a discarded Kunai knife and asks Xever how he could be so certain that the Turtles were bluffing. Xever coldly replies that he wasn't. The Purple Dragon leader soon makes a halfhearted attack at Leo, who is busy defending himself against Foot ninja. However, for a third time, Leonardo disarms him of his cleaver and lets him go. Bradford and many more ninja soon join the fray and the Turtles are beaten down by sheer numbers. While Xever begins to gloat about having captured the Turtles in the correct manner, the Purple Dragon leader, out of respect, tosses Leo one of his discarded Katana blades. With one mighty swipe, Leo jumps into the air cuts through the support beam of a water tower that is on the roof, which washes the Foot away. Michelangelo is able to save Murakami just as his rope crumbles apart. Murakami rewards the Turtles with a massive supply of Pizza Gyoza and reveals that he knew that the boys were reptiles, mostly due to Mikey's body odor. Back at the lair, April takes a liking to Pizza Gyoza, while Raph tells Splinter that they nearly got beaten. Splinter reminds them that Leo's acts of kindness are what made the Purple Dragon become merciful to them. At the Foot Clan headquarters, Xever and Bradford arrive and kneel before the Shredder. Shredder is disgusted when he realizes that they have lost their own battle for a second time. Bradford offers his 'humble apologies' and Xever does as well. Shredder then vows to deal with the disciples of Hamato Yoshi by himself, ending the episode with the Shredder approaching the camera and narrowing his eyes. Splinter's Wisdom *''"To show mercy is not soft, it is a sign of true strength''." *''"A Daimyo of the 16th century once said 'In times of peace, never forget the possibility of war; in times of war, never forget compassion'."'' *''"An enemy that is willing to cross lines that you won't may be dangerous but this does not make him strong."'' Character Debuts *Purple Dragons *Mr. Murakami Trivia *When Mikey describes his face tattoo, it shows the face of Michelangelo from the original 1987 cartoon. *This is the first episode that focuses on Leo. *This episode shows that Raph is not fond of people who pick on blind people. Gallery b and x.jpg|Rivals...not friends tatoo.png|"It will be like I'm wearing a mask and the mask is ME!!!" TMNT_011.png|Murakami San This little foot went to market.gif Shred head hide out.jpg L8WF9.png TMNT 2012 Screenshot.PNG Donnie feels good.jpg Pizza gyoza.jpg Pizza Gyoza tastes good.jpg Raph is strong.jpg Turtles with cute eyes.jpg|Raph and Leo look so mad at each other Xever fight.jpg Category:Episodes Category:Season 1 Category:The Show Category:Episodes that aired in 2012